46 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} seriously. “I tried to convey the message in a fun, colorful way, so people will enjoy the image and then absorb the message,” he says. “The giant squid is ridding the sea of plastic, and the surfer and seal are stoked and are supporting him because the ocean is important to everyone!” Feeling inspired to create some art of your own? Step inside the extensive art store to stock up on supplies. Complete the loop by taking the Santa Cruz Riverwalk trail. Wind along the San Lorenzo River until the trail deposits you back at your starting point. photos of the same street taken in 1911 for inspiration. You’ll find the structure’s architect, William Weeks, peeking out of a secondstory window as well as Santa Cruz’s first mayor, Fred Swanton, perusing a newspaper. The next cluster of murals is farther out, so hike up Pacific Avenue, make a left at the Town Clock, then stroll along Water Street until you reach Craft Beauty Parlor (107 River Street). Artist Rachel Barnes, also known as Human Shaped Animal, describes her style as “abstractly organic landscapes” and geometric with shocks of color. Her latest piece melds levitating biodomes with a colorful kaleidoscope of crystals to capture California’s natural splendor. Nearby (124 River Street), an equally prismatic water dragon spews rainbow polka dots instead of flames. Your final destination awaits outside Lenz Art (142 River Street). Though the muralist Jimbo Phillips is making a commentary on plastic pollution, he doesn’t take himself too one more mural hike SOQUEL AVENUE ROUTE: A 4.5-MILE LOOP + Bay in a Bottle by John Pugh (622 Soquel Avenue) + Oceans in Crisis by Shane Jessup (619 Soquel Avenue) + Plastic Pollution by Madeleine Tonzi (705 North Branciforte Avenue) + Let’s Solve the Dissolve by Caia Koopman (730 Soquel Avenue) + Midtown by Jeremiah Kille (1126 Soquel Avenue) + Rio Theater by Dag Weiser (1205 Soquel Avenue) + Skateboarding’s Fallen Soldiers by multiple artists (1240 Soquel Ave) + Guardian of the Deep by Zoe Boston (1913 Soquel Avenue) + Kind People by Taylor Reinhold (3600 Soquel Avenue) mural mania santacruzmurals.com
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